Still a star of the big screen
SANDEEP YADAV
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After three decades in filmdom, Mithun Chakraborty is not ready to say goodbye.
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Photo: Rajeeb Bhatt
THE AGEING LEGEND: Mithun Chakravarty
Yes, he is dusky, tall and still handsome. He still wears red shirts, still has that broad, catchy smile. With receding hairline and a slight paunch, film actor Mithun Chakraborty is aging gracefully and has no complaints. He was once considered a serious contender to the superstar tag of Amitabh Bachchan. With more than three decades of experience in the film world, the actor has been at ease with stardom and is also painfully aware of its pitfalls.
In New Delhi for the promotion of his just-released film, `Dil Diya Hai,' Mithun talks about his role of a reformed don in the film who gives up all for the sake of love. But what is so exciting about this role for a three-time winner of the National Award for best acting?
"I love playing a don and I think it suits me. My character in this film is a positive one without any shades of grey. I am a catalyst in the story who helps the two lovers to come together," says Mithun trying to sound convincing. He says he knows that even if he tries now, he cannot play the characters he once played in meaningful films like `Mrigaya,' `Ramakrishna' and `Tahedar Katha,' and so on because he has "lost the innocence over the years, which these characters had."
Born as Gouranga Chakraborty, Mithun did his B. Sc from Scottish Church College, Calcutta, and later graduated from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He got his first break in 1976 in `Mrigaya' which fetched him his first National Award.
Mithun today runs a successful hotel business in Ooty and was the country's highest taxpayer for five consecutive years from 1995 to 1999.
Considering his popularity, he could have very well thought of joining politics.
"A man becomes a politician for leisure and I don't feel like taking rest as of now. I was offered the Rajya Sabha seat but I refused," he claims. Why shouldn't he? After all, he still has a couple of Hindi films and three Bengali films lined up!
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